The Montreal student strike began in February when most of the cégeps in the province of Québec, as well as two of the largest universities, voted to protest new austerity measures. For some of the schools, continuing the strike has been a week-to-week re-negotiation while others voted right from the beginning to participate in an unlimited general strike, and still others voted to strike until all education was free. On May 18th, two new laws came into effect in Montréal: one, a municipal by-law, aims to discourage people from wearing masks at demonstrations by threatening them with fines from $1000 to $5000; the other, a provincial Special Law which demands that demonstrators, anywhere in Québec, submit to the local police a start time and a complete route at least eight hours in advance. The provincial law also declares that there can be no demonstrations on the grounds of academic institutions, with organizers risking fines in the tens of thousands of dollars.

The students of Quebec have taken a struggle against tuition hikes and mobilized hundreds of thousands against austerity and state repression. What began as a one-week university student strike has widened into an anti-capitalist revolt against universities, banks and police in what many are calling a general and indefinite social strike. In the face of state repression, including Law 78 more or less banning protest, court injunctions against university picket lines, and mass arrests, the students of Montreal have returned to the streets night after night for over 100 days.

On June 1st, an evening march was held in Oakland to show solidarity with the students to the north.

Video of Oakland's March | Oakland Event Announcement | Over 100,000 protesters commit civil disobedience in Montreal | Solidarity Means Attack - Call For Support From Montréal!